Cactus Drawings

cactus print Now that Inktober is over and I have this collection of new work, I'm trying to go back and revisit pieces to see if I can turn any of them into interesting products or patterns.

First on my list was definitely the little cycle of cacti I doodled in red ink & ballpoint. They were simple and fun and I loved the texture created by the super thin ballpoint lines. I'm sure I'll be drawing more of the little guys in the future, too!

I scanned them in, cleaned them up, and played with the colors a bit. I actually like the red a lot, but I've been looking at red for 31 days and I'm ready for some new colors! So, I shifted them around to some shades of green and grey, which I think is a bit more calming. After that, I tossed them into Illustrator and made a quick pattern in a few variations:

I love how the pattern came together! Now I'm just trying to imagine what cute cactus-print things I could make! Wallpaper? Curtains? Pencil cases? (Can never have too many pencil cases!)

PS: The green version of each cactus is now available as a print or art card from inprnt as well! They make a really cute trio.